Roland Bartetzko

Roland Bartetzko was born in the town of Würselen, near Aachen, in 1970. He served as a staff sergeant (German: Oberfeldwebel) in the Bundeswehr until 1992. In 1992, he travelled to Bosnia and Herzegovina to fight in the Bosnian War and joined the Croatian Defence Council (HVO).[1] "To be able to call myself a soldier, I thought I had to fight," Bartetzko later remarked. "Otherwise, I could have joined a paintball club." Bartetzko was one of approximately 100 German citizens who volunteered to fight with the HVO, most of whom were far-right extremists. Bartetzko has denied being a neo-Nazi.[2]

Bartetzko left the HVO in April 1994, citing the "very cruel scenes, which could be described as atrocities" he witnessed being committed by his fellow HVO fighters.[3] In the late 1990s, he joined the Kosovo Liberation Army, and fought in the Kosovo War.[1]

On 18 April 2001, a car bomb exploded near the Centre for Peace and Tolerance in Pristina, the headquarters of the Yugoslav passport office in Kosovo, killing one civilian and injuring four others, including a woman.[4] Yugoslav government official Aleksandar Petrović was later identified as the man killed in the bombing. The device used in the attack was filled with metal fragments.[5] According to UNMIK spokesman Andrea Angeli, it contained around 10 kilograms (22 lb) of explosive. "For the future of Kosovo it could not be a more tragic incident," UNMIK police spokesman Derek Chappell stated. "This is an attack against everything that people trying to build this country are working for."[4] The crime scene was quickly secured by UNMIK police and British KFOR personnel. UNMIK and KFOR soon discovered the detonator that had been used in the attack; Bartetzko's fingerprint was found to be on it.[6] Bartetzko was arrested several days after the bombing.[5] He was charged with murder, attempted murder and terrorism.[7] He was the first Westerner to be charged with murder in post-war Kosovo.[5]

In 2001, Bartetzko was discharged from the Bundeswehr under Paragraph 55 (5) of the Soldiers' Act, which is enforced when a soldier has "culpably violated their duty to serve" or "seriously endangered the military order or the reputation of the Bundeswehr".[2] Bartetzko's trial commenced in February 2002; he pleaded not guilty.[5] The trial was held under heavy security, with United Nations police officers wearing ballistic vests and armed with automatic rifles.[7] The prosecution argued that the bombing was a "revenge attack" stemming from Bartetzko's "hatred of Serbs". On 10 May 2002, Bartetzko was convicted on all counts and sentenced to 23 years' imprisonment.[5]

Bartetzko was incarcerated at the Dubrava Prison in western Kosovo. He filed an appeal against the first-instance verdict, and on 12 November 2002, the Supreme Court of Kosovo reduced his sentence from 23 years to 20 years. In 2009, Bartetzko filed a request for interim measures with the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, alleging violations of his right to effective legal remedy, right to appeal, and human rights guaranteed by the European Convention on Human Rights. In August 2010, the motion was rejected by the Constitutional Court of Kosovo.[8]

Bartetzko was released on parole in 2015. Upon his release, he relocated to Pristina and found work providing legal services to a local media company, having studied law while imprisoned. He is an active contributor to the question-and-answer website Quora, where he discusses his wartime experiences. In 2018, Bartetzko published a memoir. He continues to maintain that he was not responsible for the bombing of the Yugoslav passport office and has accused UNMIK of framing him.[2]